'Lax EU' is blamed for North Atlantic fishing free-for-all

By Charles Clover, Environment Editor

12:00AM BST 01 Jul 2000

A WORSENING ecological disaster is in progress in the north-east Atlantic caused by the failure of the European Union and its neighbours to control overfishing, a report by government scientists from 20 countries said yesterday.

The report by the Ospar commission, published in Copenhagen yesterday, said the state of fisheries was the most pressing threat around our shores, ahead of climate change and pollution from nuclear plants, oil spills, pesticides and hazardous substances. The Quality Status Report on the seas from the Arctic to Gibraltar concluded that 40 out of 60 commercial fish species in the region, including all nine species in the North Sea, were "outside safe biological limits".

The report expressed concern that governments were permitting a free-for-all by fishermen targeting deep-sea fish such as orange roughy, scabbard, roundnose grenadier and argentine, despite the fact that slow growth rates and low fecundity made them "particularly vulnerable" to overfishing. Deep-sea stocks, which do not enjoy the protection of quota restrictions, are being targeted by trawlers which see no money to be made from the overfished and heavily regulated North Sea.

The European Commission has yet to impose precautionary quotas, although asked to do so by a North Sea ministerial meeting in 1997. Scientists said the management of fish stocks has been a failure, with quotas set higher than scientific advice for socio-economic reasons and against a background of failure to control over-capacity in many fishing fleets.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the report was "a wake-up call to the EU and other fishing nations of the north-east Atlantic". The report also highlighted the threats to populations of 1,000 non-commercial fish species, such as sharks, skates and rays. Many could be on the way to extinction. It highlighted the problem of "by-catch" of large numbers of smaller fish in commercial fisheries. These fish do not survive when returned to the water.

Related Articles

Since they are smaller than landed fish, they represent a larger number of fish than landed fish. The report said: "Therefore discarding half the weight of the catch can result in many more fish being discarded than are actually landed." Discarding small fish could also favour scavenging species, leading to an imbalance in the ecosystem. The report also warned that the death rate of harbour porpoises which become entangled in bottom-set gill nets was "unsustainable".

Trawling was damaging habitat on the sea bed. Investigations along the Norwegian coast showed extensive damage to deep-water coral formations.